From the age of 13 Blake attended the Camberwell School of Arts and Craft in London, but at the age of 15 he went into the building trade as an architectural draftsman. During that time he studied 3 nights a week for 10 years at Goldsmiths College and Brixton School of Building, eventually designing public swimming baths and cinemas.

In World War II he worked for the Ministry of Information as a war artist producing propaganda, but he also produced War Maps and Battle Impressions for the Daily Express.

In the 1960s Blake gave up work to become a full-time painter, he subsequently exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and special exhibitions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Rome and Hamburg.